Let’s talk nipples

No, this isn’t an ode to the sustainer of life/indicator that it’s really cold. Rather, I’d like to talk about the fact that Anja Rubik’s 25 Magazine made the cover of Style.com recently after the magazine’s Instagram account was removed without warning following a post in which Rubik wore a sheer Anthony Vaccarello top sans bra.

This is no one-off incident. Recently, Kendall Jenner faced harsh criticism after walking in the Marc Jacobs FW14 show with her breasts exposed in a sheer top. For the record, much of the criticism came from moronic tabloid writers (ahem, Daily Mail) who seem to have forgotten that every other model in the show was in the same situation, and the event was focussed on clothes rather than bare breasts.

Perhaps it’s because I’m just an artsy, angsty liberal teenager, but I can’t understand the fuss over nipples (or any nudity for that matter) when the intentions aren’t vulgar. It seems to me that there is a double standard at play; people complain about the fact that pornography has placed unrealistic expectations on women’s bodies, yet when beautiful, healthy, real female bodies are shown they are seen as vulgar and inappropriate.

I would understand all the fuss if the aforementioned scenarios involved exposed genitals, because people can be sensitive about their ‘privates’, but both cases involved controversy over nipples. Nipples! You know, those things I, like other men, am allowed to parade about without question. Society’s double standards regarding gender are infuriating. (Side note: you should watch this.)

Back to Anja Rubik and 25, I think Rubik puts it best: “It’s quite frustrating, especially because, when you look through Instagram, there are so many crude, vulgar images, which are apparently fine. But when you post a beautiful body of a naked woman, which is the most natural thing that can exist, then we have a problem. What’s the worst thing that will happen? Even if it’s children flipping through, why should they be offended by a breast? Especially if it’s photographed or shown in a very natural way that’s not vulgar.” (Style.com)

Image credit: Lara Stone photographed by Tyrone Lebon for i-D Magazine’s Spring 2013 issue.

x Mr Mint